Blood Origin narrates an origin story to The Witcher series, as it depicts not only how the witchers—superhuman warriors created to hunt the monsters that plague humankind—came to be, but how their world was formed from a cataclysmic event known as the “Conjunction of the Spheres,” which introduced humans and monsters to a new land.

The story follows the elf Éile (Sophia Brown), a warrior turned bard, as she becomes embroiled in the politics of the empire. She and a band of outcasts must come together to protect their people, first from their own leaders, but then from the otherworldly threat those leaders unwittingly unleash in their quest for power.

While Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia is not in Blood Origin, at least one familiar face from The Witcher turns up in the prequel: Jaskier the bard, whose task it becomes to learn the long-forgotten story of Éile and her companions, and bring it back to the present day, and whose appearance is one of the highlights of the entire miniseries.

Blood Origin’s cast notably includes Michelle Yeoh (meaning the show is guaranteed to have at least one great character). Yeoh plays swordmaster Scian of the Ghost Clan, the last of her tribe, and as always, is a force to be reckoned with in her role as mentor and comrade in arms to Éile, Fjall (Laurence O’Fuarain), and the rest of their band

Others include Francesca Mills, who is hilarious and affecting by turns as the foul-mouthed and vengeful dwarf Meldorf, and Mirren Mack, whom you may know from the Netflix series Sex Education, who fascinates as the unpredictable elven princess Merwyn (and definitely gets to wear all the best costumes, hairstyles, and makeup in the show).

Minnie Driver is also featured as he makes a lovely elf, not to mention, beloved veteran British actor Sir Lenny Henry as Chief Sage Balor